BRUCE BOWKER'S CARIB INN

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5.0

Excellent

268 reviews

Location

Cleanliness

Service

Value

Travelers' Choice 2019 Winner

Certificate of Excellence

Bruce Bowker's Carib Inn is a 5 Star PADI resort specializing in scuba diving. We offer all levels of scuba instruction and daily boat trips with experienced, knowledgeable dive instructors. Reserved boats and shore diving are also available. Our retail store has extremely competitive prices and offer scuba repair services as well. The resort has a fresh water pool, cable TV, free WIFI and daily maid service. Comprised of eleven units including a 3 bedroom house and a 4 bedroom house located on the sea with its own dock and boats.

Room & Suite (45)45

Full view

Property amenities

Free parking

Free High Speed Internet (WiFi)

Free internet

Wifi

Pool

Outdoor pool

Beach

Non-smoking hotel

Public wifi

Internet

Room features

Non-smoking rooms

Suites

Air conditioning

Private balcony

Kitchenette

Microwave

Refrigerator

Flatscreen TV

Good to know

HOTEL STYLE

Great View

Charming

Hotel links

Visit hotel website

Location

Full view

Contact

J.A. Abraham Blvd 46, Kralendijk Bonaire

011 599 717 8819

E-mail hotel

Getting there

Flamingo Intl Airport1 miSee all flights

Aeropuerto Hato46 miSee all flights

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Nearby restaurants

Kite City

13 minStreet Food

Gio's Gelateria & Caffe

See all nearby restaurants

Nearby attractions

Terramar Museum

13 minHistory Museums

Van Den Tweel

13 minShopping Malls

Beachvibes Surf Shop

14 minSpeciality & Gift Shops

Saltshop Bonaire

12 minSpeciality & Gift Shops

See all nearby attractions

268Reviews2Q+A47Room tips

+1

Excellent Scuba Experience for Families

We are a family of 7 with boys, ages 10-20. The diving was excellent & easily managed. On arrival we were greeted by Zach & Lucia who arranged for us to rent dive gear & schedule an orientation dive. Because all 5 boys had been certified only the week prior to our arrival, we were relieved that both Zach and Lucia took extra care to make us feel comfortable while attending to the safety and enjoyment of the boys. We felt very confident with the equipment and with the safety measures the Carib Inn took. We were especially impressed with Zach's night dive. He was super attentive to our 10 year old & guided us through a wonderful underwater world. Carib Inn also offers very convenient boat dive trips that can be arranged the day before, or the same day. The guide basically asks where ya' wanna' go & takes off! The boat dives are small groups. The shore diving from the Inn's dock is excellent with little current & plenty to see. The location of the Inn is terrific - walking distance from the downtown area and 5 minutes from the airport and groceries. We went shore diving from several other locations, all within about 15 to 20 minutes. We stayed in the Green House which is absolutely perfect for families (or a group). The rooms were clean. The staff were friendly and helpful. The kitchen allowed us to make meals. The location is across the street from the main area and the pool. We were delighted that our first family dive vacation was so convenient, well-organized, and enjoyable.…

Date of stay: August 2019

Sounds like we enjoyed 'the football team' as much as you enjoyed Bonaire! thank you so much for a really nice review - hope to see you all again soon.

Hotel's Favorite

My favorite dive lodge in the world

After 49 years of diving all over, I keep coming back (trip #11) to the Carib Inn. It is one of the few places where you can have both outstanding boat dives and an outstanding shore dive, if you are too lazy to get on the boat, or in particular if you want an exciting night dive with lots of cool critters. The dive operation is extremely safety conscious and professional with a great group of divemasters. In a hands-on way, they make sure that you have the necessary skills to dive safely, and then they don't oppress you with excessive rigidity. Most people get to do two boat dives a day to divers' choice locations where you can get up to 75 minutes of cool viewing pleasure. For those who want to go off on their own, you can always rent a car and spice up your boat diving with some of Bonaire's easily accessible shore sites. Amazingly, the Carib Inn is also reasonably priced. But their are so many repeat visitors, you might need to reserve a prime time a year in advance…

Date of stay: December 2018

Location

Service

Sleep Quality

Trip type: Traveled as a couple

Room Tip: best rooms are 6, 7, 8, 9

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Thank you so much for the great review - the cats will miss you next year. We all look forward to seeing you again in the future.

Diver's Paradise

Stayed here over the Memorial Day weekend last year and it couldn't be easier. The set up has been perfected. We did the boat dives and really enjoyed it. Dive in the am come back relax have lunch and then head out for a second dive. Rinse tanks centrally located and the pool nice and clean. Mini kitchen in the room with a fridge. It does not get any easier than this. Its about a 15 min walk to town. Bruce and crews super friendly and always offering tips and advice for the area. Ive been diving since 1992 and can honestly say this is the best set up I have ever experienced. If you dive, dive here with Bruce's crew.…

Date of stay: May 2019

Rooms

Service

Sleep Quality

Thanks - we prefer the quiet setting small boat dives - keeps it more personal! Hope to see you again.

I do not want to go anywhere else...

I just returned from my second trip to the Carib Inn, and I'm not the type who ever travels to the same place twice! Please realize that this makes me a "newbie," most of the other guests have been there 10, 20, or even 40 times! The biggest problem with this place is that once you have found it you will not want to go anywhere else. Why not? Because for a diver, it is PERFECT. The rooms have everything you need and nothing you don't. The pool is just big enough to float in with your drink after a long day of diving. The healthy house reef is steps from your room. The tanks are always filled with just a little extra air. The rental equipment is top notch. There is ALWAYS a spot for you on the boat. Bruce can fix ANYTHING. The staff is fantastic, no request is too much. And the prices are unbeatable. You could spend so much more to travel to places that aren't half this good. I liked the Carib Inn so much on my first visit that I returned with five other families. I've seen all the rooms at this place since my group booked most of them, and I've stayed in the four bedroom house and the one bedroom seaside apartment, so I will speak to those spaces in this review. The green FOUR BEDROOM HOUSE is a standalone property across the street from the Carib Inn. I really like the privacy that it provides, you are close enough to feel like you are a part of the property, but you live like a local. Outside you will find gated parking for two vehicles, a clothes line, a private dive locker and an outdoor shower. There is also a separate lockable room inside the house where you can leave dive equipment. Of the four bedrooms, one is a king with an ensuite bath, the second is a king, and the other two are doubles (these three bedrooms share a separate hall bath). Bedrooms have AC, but the common areas do not. There are two porches, one in the front and one in the back. The house has its own router, so WiFi works much better here than on the rest of the property since fewer people are using it. Lots of birds and iguanas visit the yard, so there is terrific wildlife watching over your morning coffee. As much as I like the house, I LOVE the upstairs ONE BEDROOM SEASIDE APARTMENT (#8). This space has the most beautiful ocean front porch with a dining table and separate seating area! It also has a second porch that overlooks the pool. If you leave the doors to both porches open, a breeze will cool the whole apartment. The bedroom also has AC. This apartment has a kitchen, but no oven. (It does have a cooktop and microwave). There is a daybed with trundle in the living area, so it easily sleeps a family of four. There is a second one bedroom apartment next door (#7) that has a similar layout. Its pool porch is smaller and overall it felt darker to me, so if you have a choice I would recommend #8. And now for the DIVING. I could go on and on about this. I could write about how much I loved the house reef (I think I did it 7 times this trip), or how terrific Linda, Lucia, Zach, Larry, Kristi, Kitty, Bruce, and the rest of the gang are, but you've read this in other reviews, so I'll spare you a repeat. And yes, the prices for equipment purchases are the best you will find, but you know that if you are paying attention. I will highlight a few things you may not know. First, there is a really unusual NIGHT DIVE you can do with Zach where you use special ultraviolet lights to shine on the corals. Brain coral turns fluorescent yellow, Christmas tree worms turn hot purple! Basically the house reef looks like the inside of a 1980s Spencer Gifts, which is not what you expect to see on a night dive. Even the resident tarpon glow purple under the UV light! This is without a doubt one of the most interesting and unexpected dives I've ever made, and I highly recommend checking it out. Second, this is a fabulous place to LEARN TO DIVE, ESPECIALLY FOR KIDS. My son has done both his Open Water and Advanced Open Water courses here, and our group had six other pre-teens/teens and two adults also taking classes, so I saw all of the instructors in action. Every person teaching here is beyond patient, and they really emphasize safety and basic skill competency. If you are a family that wants to dive together, there is not a better place to certify your kids than the Carib Inn.…

Date of stay: July 2019

Location

Cleanliness

Service

Room Tip: #8 One bedroom seaside apartment is my favorite, gorgeous views from two porches

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WOW thank you so much for sharing your experience! We have had a lot of instruction this year and it has been a lot of fun to certify a younger generation. Hope to see you all again soon.

Fantastic Family Vacation!

Bruce and his staff are exceptional - when we left I knew almost everyone's name. If you are looking for a place to dive, whether experienced or just starting out, staff here are knowledgeable, skilled and great teacher/coaches. My wife an I took a refresher course with Larry - not only did he get us up to speed after a many years, we laughed along the way and had some great conversations (see if you can stump him on a Phish question). Our two kids (12 & 14) also took their PADI open water certification course - I can't say enough about how patience Lucia was with them, they loved her and she hooked them on diving. If there is an overarching comment I have, it is that all staff were a pleasure, attentive and relaxed - they genuinely love diving and sharing it with others. I always felt like they were nearly as excited about our dives as I was. Bruce, you have some great people, thanks for the experience!…

Date of stay: July 2019

Value

Service

Sleep Quality

Room Tip: Recommend the ocean view rooms - fantastic view!

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Thank you for the review - our staff loves the ocean and really enjoys teaching others all about its beauty. Hope to see you again soon!

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ALSO KNOWN AS

bruce bowker`s carib hotel bonaire

LOCATION

CaribbeanBonaireKralendijk

NUMBER OF ROOMS

11

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Bruce Bowker's Carib Inn Hotel, Bonaire/Kralendijk

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